Subtly returning his aura to the Foundation Establishment stage, in the Huan Yu Courtyard, Li Fan’s breakthrough did not attract much attention.
Other than Ji Hongdao, who gave Li Fan a curious glance during a lecture.
Almost no one knew that Li Fan had entered the Golden Core realm.
However, even if these students knew, they wouldn’t think much of it.
After all, the Golden Core realm was too ordinary among this group of people.
Compared to cultivation, they valued formations more.
The closed training for the Tianxuan Spirit Lock Formation was coming to an end.
Since the time they saw the Tianxuan Mirror, quite a few of the students seemed to have comprehended something, and their grades soared.
In the final test for compatibility with the formation core, they were at the top.
Li Fan, on the one hand, was slightly distracted because of his concern for the major events in the Cong Yun Sea and his own breakthrough; on the other hand, he didn’t have much insight because his talent in formations was quite ordinary.
The combination of these two reasons resulted in his performance almost stagnating in place.
As the saying goes, if you don’t advance, you will retreat, and Li Fan’s ranking plummeted significantly.
Fortunately, his performance in previous formation structure and Soul Contract recognition tests had been among the best.
Overall, he hadn’t dropped to the very bottom.
His ranking was still slightly above average.
On this day, Ji Hongdao announced that the final test would take place in a month and a half.
It would evaluate the actual deployment of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Formation.
Only enough formation materials for one attempt would be provided, and no one else would assist; each person would deploy the formation alone.
Finally, an assessment would be made based on the actual construction of the formation.
Rankings would be made according to the quality of the performance.
Those with outstanding performance would naturally be rewarded.
However, Ji Hongdao kept the specific prizes a secret.
He only said they were extremely valuable, and even he was tempted and wanted to participate in the competition himself.
Upon hearing this, the students couldn’t help but feel excited.
They hurriedly returned to their respective courtyards to prepare adequately for the final test.
Li Fan was also about to leave when Ji Hongdao called him.
“The final test is coming soon, and rationally, I should temporarily conceal this matter.”
“But this matter is too significant. I believe you have the right to know.”
Li Fan immediately knew what Ji Hongdao was talking about.
But the play had to be acted out.
Slightly stunned and pretending to look puzzled, Li Fan respectfully said, “Senior, please speak, I can handle it.”
Ji Hongdao nodded slightly: “In that case, listen carefully.”
“Your hometown, Cong Yun Sea.”
“It’s gone…”
Li Fan’s response was also very appropriate.
There was no special reaction, just a look of confusion: “Gone? What does that mean?”
A hint of darkness flashed in Ji Hongdao’s eyes: “Literally gone.”
“The entire Cong Yun Sea has disappeared.”
Li Fan smiled: “Senior, don’t joke. The Cong Yun Sea is so vast. How could such a large area just disappear…”
Halfway through his words, Li Fan suddenly fell silent.
He stared at Ji Hongdao blankly, seeing that Ji Hongdao didn’t look like he was joking at all.
Like being struck by lightning, Li Fan’s body trembled slowly.
His eyes widen like bronze bells, and disregarding the gap in cultivation and status between them, Li Fan strides forward and grabs Ji Hongdao’s arm.
“Is it true? How is this possible?”
“What exactly happened?”
…
“Ah.” Ji Hongdao looked at Li Fan, who momentarily looked like he had gone mad, and let out a long sigh.
Sending Li Fan back to his courtyard with a finger, he said, “You should go back and calm down first. As for what exactly happened, you can search for yourself in the Tianxuan Mirror.”
“The relevant information should be available by now.”
In the blink of an eye, Li Fan was back in his own courtyard.
Maintaining the same expression as before, Li Fan searched for the Cong Yun Sea in the Tianxuan Mirror.
“It seems that the Heavenly Calamity Sword was ultimately no match for Ink Death. Now, the Cong Yun Sea has completely become an abyss of nothingness.”
“The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace is also gone.”
“This result is within expectations. Perhaps the Heavenly Calamity is of the same realm as Ink Death, but it is currently only a fragment of the whole sword. It didn’t even have a hilt.”
“Moreover… with such a big event, the discussion is surprisingly low. It seems that the Heavenly Sovereign is at work again.”
Such a big event could not be kept secret.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance did not choose to block or shield the news, but instead handled the matter coldly.
At first, the discussion was very heated, and the recording of Ink Death’s attack by Jiao Xiuyuan made many cultivators shocked and greedy at the same time.
Apart from sympathy for the unfortunate cultivators of the Cong Yun Sea and questions as to why Ink Death would resort to such brutal means to destroy the Cong Yun Sea directly, the most discussed topic was surprisingly the feasibility of using Ink Death to reach Dao Integration.
As time went by, the number of people discussing the first two topics decreased.
Only the enthusiasts persisted.
“What kind of combat power would one have after integrating with Ink Death? In my opinion, although the cultivation world is vast, there is no cultivator qualified for this.”
“I’ll mention one, Young Master Jinglun. It is said that he reached the pinnacle of Soul Transformation decades ago, with unfathomable strength. There was even a time when he was faced with the temptation of a Heavenly Spirit, but he resolutely gave up the opportunity to integrate the Dao because that Heavenly Spirit was too weak!”
“Young Master Jinglun is strong, but compared to Ink Death, he is still a bit lacking in my opinion.”
“That black particle annihilates everything, and resisting it is extremely difficult. I think if Zhong Shentong advances to the Soul Transformation stage, that infinite Seven-Colored Divine Light might be able to contend with it.”
“Zhong Shentong? A Foundation Establishment cultivator? And he is so old. Did you really think any trash can come out and trample on Young Master Jinglun? Even without the Young Master making a move, I could crush him!”
“Oh? This friend is very confident? Do you dare to leave your name and address? I would like to come to your door and ask for advice in person!”
…
Li Fan’s face was overwhelmed with grief as he browsed through these messages one by one.
In his heart, however, he thought, “Having suffered such misfortune, even if my final test results are slightly worse, it will still be quite reasonable.”
For the next few days, Li Fan stayed indoors and declined all visitors.
He portrayed the image of a cultivator who had suddenly suffered a great change perfectly.
As time passed, Li Fan clearly felt that the memories of the Cong Yun Sea in his mind were becoming more and more faint.
His thoughts were hindered, and he hardly ever actively recalled anything relevant.
If it weren’t for the fact that Li Fan had specifically opened up an area in the Dao Transformation Stone designated as a special record, and backtracked every few days…
He would almost have forgotten about the extinction of the Cong Yun Sea.
This only took a little over a month.
“The strength of this Heavenly Sovereign is truly terrifying.”
Once again experiencing the influence of the Heavenly Sovereign firsthand, Li Fan couldn’t help but sigh.
Just like that, everything returned to peace.
After another ten days, the final test of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Formation closed training finally arrived.